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A Sophisticated Evening of Automotive Mayhem
Warning: This page is graphic-intensive. Deal with it.
Much fun was had at the Greater Corinth Motor Speedway (a.k.a. Bruce Mclaren's house) on Friday, April 18 1997. The game was
Steve Jackson's Car Wars a "Mad Max"-type of armed demolition derby set in the not too distant future. We used several types of vehicles, ranging from the fast (i.e. max 120 mph) but lightly armed (i.e. twin machine guns) and armored "Charger", to the "Hedgehog," sporting body and wheel armor and brandishing rocket launchers.
We used "Micromachines" as the counters for the game (great idea, Chris!); with the track courtesy of Sam and Bruce. Elaborate scenery, including anachronistic Medieval guard towers, provided by Kevin. (Be sure to notice the billboards.) If you are a regular Car Wars player and would like to know some of the particulars, click HERE.
For even MORE Car Wars action, be sure to check out our Maxi-scale Car Wars page, Size DOES Matter!.
 The other drivers watch closely as Kevin performs the perilous maneuver known as "Going fast and driving in a straight line." A nice shot of the track, showing how the drivers start outward from the center of the figure 8. Not shown: empty pizza boxes.
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One of the earliest challenges of the race. Bruce (yellow) is approaching Chris (blue) at well over 100 mph, more than twice Chris' speed. He has to just squeek past Chris on the hairpin (oblique!) turn up ahead to avoid a volley from Chris' Vulcan machine guns. Can he do it?! (Does the phrase "High-Speed Tumbling Fireball of Automotive Death" give you a hint?")
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Kevin (skull on roof) takes the corner at 105 mph. Points be damned; he's out for a kill! Bruce, in a rare moment of being right-side up, continues his roll down the straight-away. Note the innocent bystanders on the right. Wimps!
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Sam, piloting the green "Hedgehog" decides the best way to negate the 'relative speed' penalty is to make the vehicle's speeds the same: by ramming! Kevin survived, but not without losing half his side armor.
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In an effort to discourage Sam from shooting at him (and against the orders of the Surgeon General), Kevin starts "smoking." (Mark-IV Smokescreen Dispenser, available by mail order from Angel's Automotive Armaments.) Note that Bruce's "High-Speed Tumbling Fireball of Automotive Death" has slowed down to 20 mph, after having rolled the entire length of the straightaway. Unfortunately, the driver perished about halfway up the road...
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Game Details for 
Aficionados
For this game we used Micromachines figures, primarily because 3-D figures look much cooler than flat counters. They were also really cheap (on sale you can get 5 or more cars for US$3) and you can find them at the grocery store. Using Micromachines required a little creativity on our part, because the rules, templates and counters that come with the game are scaled for 1" x .5". Chris, our resident "clever boy", scaled the movement templates up to work with a 1.5" x .75" base, needed for the larger Micromachines. If you are interested in playing Car Wars with Micromachines and would like to get copies of the templates, please email Chris Vanderbilt.
The billboards were done by Kevin Self and include the following:
Uncle Smeggy's 'Pancreas On-A-Stick'
Angel's Automotive Armaments
Mrs. Paul's Plankton Puffs (remember the mention of algae farms in the rulebook chronology?)
Church of the Subgenius
If you would like a copy of these to adorn your automotive arena, please email Kevin Self.
Car Wars is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, who make the coolest games in the Western Spiral Arm of the Milky Way.
